Rabbit Trails

by Charles Wesley A young lady in our church sang and played this song last night. Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears; The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears: Before the throne my surety stands, Before the throne my surety stands, My name is written on His hands. He ever lives above, for me to intercede; His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead: His blood atoned for all our race, His blood atoned for all our race, And sprinkles now the throne of grace. Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary; They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me: “Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry, “Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry, “Nor let that ransomed sinner die!” The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One; He cannot turn away, the presence of His Son; His Spirit answers to the blood, His Spirit answers to the blood, And tells me I am born of God. My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear; He owns me for His child; I ...

THANK YOU FOR THE VALLEY Thank you for the valley I walked through today. The darker the valley, the more I learned to pray.  I found you where the lilies are, Blooming by the way,  And I thank you for the valley I walked through today. Thank you for every hill I climbed. For every time the sun didn't shine. Thank you for every lonely night. I prayed 'til I knew everything was all right. Life can't be all sunshine. All the flowers would die. The rivers would be deserts, all barren and dry. Life can't be all blessings or, there'd be no need to pray. So I thank you for the valley I walked through today. Thank you for every hill I climbed. For every time the sun didn't shine. Thank you for every lonely night. I prayed 'til I knew everything was all right. Thank you for the valley, I walked through today. 

If emotions are driving you to eat,  you will find yourself to be very particular. If truly hungry,  you will eat a lukewarm bologna sandwich.

Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the places you can, To all the people you can As long as you ever can. A smile costs us nothing. A heartfelt handshake is free. A compliment is always welcomed. Doing something big or small for others....is the best medicine.

A Closing Thought Did you ever stop to think What makes a day seem bright? It isn't just the bright sunshine, Though, of course, that helps, all right. It's not just meeting friends you like, Exchanging news and jokes; No, sir, it's the little thoughtful things You've done for other folks. Clara Holm

We generally make our worst mistakes  in matters which appear to us to be so plain  that we think we do not need direction from God  concerning them.   -  Charles Spurgeon

This year, or this month,  or, more likely, this very day,  we have failed to practise ourselves  the kind of behaviour we expect from  other people.   -  C.S. Lewis

Two men look out through the same bars One sees the mud, and one the stars. Taken from: Poems That Touch the Heart, A.L. Alexander

Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honour, and pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure, and pays with pain; he promises profit, and pays with loss; he promises life, and pays with death. But God pays as he promises; all his payments are made in pure gold.  -  Thomas Brooks

Only one life, t'will soon be past. Only what's done for Christ will last.   -  Anonymous

"The road is too rough,' I said; 'It is uphill all the way; No flowers, but thorns instead; And the skies over head are grey.' But One took my hand at the entrance dim, And sweet is the road that I walk with Him.

"You are today where your thoughts  have brought you; you will be  tomorrow where your  thoughts take you." - James Allen ....and can our thoughts ever take us places!! Places we shouldn't go. When I first got saved, my pastor gave me a verse: James 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Is this not a good verse to apply to our thought life? Resisting the thoughts that are not *from above* ? bitter angry defeated sorrowful fearful regretful malicious sour caustic  irate harsh  biting furious vexed fretful petty offensive dreadful Do this test........if there is something bothering you, you've been *abused*, somebody did you wrong, you're full of fear about something..... purpose yourself to THINK about it all day.  Make a pact with yourself to harbor it in your heart.  Don't let any fleeting thought about your trouble get past you, make sure you remember it all day ...

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another,  and regardless of how much you  blame him, it will not change you"  - Wayne Dyer

Psalm 94:18 When I said, My foot slippeth: thy mercy, O' LORD, held me up. You'll Never Walk Alone R. Rogers/O. Hammerstein II When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk alone When you walk through a storm Hold your head up high And don't be afraid of the dark At the end of the storm Is a golden sky And the sweet silver song of the lark Walk on through the wind Walk on through the rain Though your dreams be tossed and blown Walk on walk on with hope in your heart And you'll never walk alone You'll never walk You'll never walk You'll never walk alone.

Nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee! E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me, still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee! Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down, darkness be over me, my rest a stone; yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee! There let the way appear, steps unto heaven; all that thou sendest me, in mercy given; angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee! Then, with my waking thoughts bright with thy praise, out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise; so by my woes to be nearer, my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee! Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky, sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly, still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to thee; nearer, my God, to thee, nearer to thee!

Your heart is breaking, you say, with your troubles.  It needs more breaking; for, if it was broken, the trouble would not break it.  Where our selfishness and our self-will come in, there our sorrows begin.  What is wanted is not the removal of trouble, but the conquest of self.

The storm that shook thy nest taught thee to fly.  -  Charles Spurgeon

All the troubles, afflictions, and sorrows of this life, in comparison with eternal happiness and blessedness, are to be considered as nothing.  They are but as the point of a pin compared to the starry heavens.   Thomas Brooks